


Bratty Jeanne

by legsanddairy



Category: Bayonetta (Video Games)
Genre: Bayojeanne, Childhood Memories, F/F, Jeannetta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-23 18:04:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8337493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legsanddairy/pseuds/legsanddairy
Summary: There was a time when even perhaps Jeanne's eyes were clouded with fear.





	

Today had been a long day. I had lessons on Summoning, brewing practice, even some sparring with handguns, which I had only recently started learning to use. I looked back on my progress of the day and felt proud of myself. In other words I had simply outshone every single one of my peers in terms of performance. As expected of the Umbran heiress of course. But as usual, I resolved to push myself even further. Even if that meant further distancing myself from the others. Already they were afraid of me. But I told myself that I did not mind. But back then, I think I did care.

I busied myself with arranging my schedule for the next week. But it was only in vain that I tried to ignore what had really been the most important event of the day. It had been gnawing at me, a horrid, twisting feeling of shame and guilt that I had pushed to the back of my mind with willpower (or rather, drowning myself in the activities and lessons of the day).

Some time ago some snoop had sighted me sneaking into the wing where Cereza lives. The past couple of weeks the rumours had spread around, and I overheard snippets of gossip during my classes. Not that anyone had dared to confront me directly. 

But the bits and pieces that did reach my ears, had been nasty. Pointing out the “impurity” of the “outcast”. How disgusting it was that she even dared to speak to me, “tainting” me (completely ignoring the fact that I was the one that actually made the trek to her living quarters). The list of completely untrue and ignorant insults and accusations goes on and on.

I suppose it got to me, eventually. I stopped visiting her several days after the rumours started. But I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I wondered if she missed me. I missed her. But I told myself that I didn’t. I started repeating to myself the words that my peers were saying. My eyes began to be clouded with fear. But still, I thought about her.

And so earlier today at noon, I decided to visit her again. She was so happy to see me… and we talked about things as usual. But then she asked me why I hadn’t been there for such a long time. And I just… snapped. I repeated some things that others said about her that I shouldn’t have repeated at all. Things that I have no doubt that she had heard so many times… but never before from me. 

She was upset. And that was an understatement. I will never, ever forget her face. And I, the coward that I was, fled. And threw myself with vigour at my classes in the afternoon. But here I am, thinking about my horrid actions. I had never seen Cereza so hurt before.

[---]

After that day I became even more isolated. I ignored the wing where Cereza lived. I was leagues ahead of my peers in terms of prowess. And of course the more that happened, the less anyone talked to me. I pushed myself even harder. Because I just wanted to flee from the others.

[---]

I missed her so much. Because she had been the only one not afraid of me. But I’m not sure what she thought of me after I said those horrible things to her.

[---]

Today I finally went to visit her again. It had been fifty two days since that horrible day. I spent a lot of time mustering up the courage to face her, actually. But when I got there, my mouth was dry. I had been hoping she might be asleep, or something. So that I could postpone seeing that hurt in her eyes again.

But she was wide awake. She didn’t seem so surprised to see me there, in fact. Before I could speak, she told me in no uncertain words that if, I do think of her the way that others think of her, I needn’t bother coming to visit her anymore. There was no fear in her eyes. I think maybe just some sort of wistful disappointment. Maybe it was just my imagination though, because I didn’t dare meet her eyes.

At that moment, I realized, just how regal Cereza was. I had allowed myself to become fearful due to gossip, due to opinions of people I had considered sheep, precisely due to their prejudice. And I had become just like them, when I had doubted Cereza. Cereza, whom I had come to know personally as one of the most brilliant, talented, and bravest of witches. The other witches who gossiped did not know Cereza. And I had allowed myself to become afraid because of them - how stupid had I been?

I act regally. I am confident when I speak. I hold myself with an air that only the Umbran Heiress could. Which is why when Cereza told me that I couldn’t visit her anymore if I thought of her as the others did, it was the first time something had truly frightened me. Or awed me, or both.

Because she had not been brought up like I had been, yet she acted with such a poise that sometimes I even had trouble maintaining. And when others would cower when facing me, she confronted me with that power and poise. 

And again, that moment is when I knew I could not lose her. That I would fight tooth and claw to keep her as my friend, my companion, a complete equal. 

And I apologized to her. I promised it would not happen again. And I will admit I even teared up a little. I mean, I cried. It was the first time I had cried in front of anyone other than my mother. But the previous revelation still had me reeling and the guilt and shame that had accumulated over time had me feeling very vulnerable. Enough for me to forget my pride and my ego, though only momentarily.

Either way, I actually did not particularly mind being so utterly vulnerable in front of Cereza. She had earned it, along with my respect and my love.

At some point during my apology I said to her, “I wish I didn’t have this birthright so that our relationship could be more normal.” (Mind, I usually don’t think like this, but I have to repeat, I was feeling very vulnerable at that moment!)

And she laughed and said, “Nothing about us right now is normal. And if we were, I don’t think we would have become interested in each other. I know I wouldn’t have wanted to be friends with you if you were normal.”

At my stricken face she continued. “Jeanne, if you didn’t have your birthright, would you be so confident all the time?”

To which I took some time to consider, and I told her that, perhaps not. After some more reasoning in my head, I said, “The way that everyone treats me definitely affected how I see myself. But if applying the same to you… I feel that if everyone treated me how they treat you… I don’t know if I would have been able to not let that affect me, Cereza.”

I don’t think I said out loud how I found that beautiful.

She laughed again. “Actually, Jeanne, it was you that showed me my self worth.” 

And she held my hand. I felt like I was about to melt. But I said, “I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes you did... So I actually came to this conclusion when we were much younger. Because if a doofus like you can feel so good about herself, I felt that of course I could too! And that’s stuck with me since then.”

I glowered at her. She laughed loudly then. 

When I went back to my room that night, I promised myself never to let others’ opinions blind me again. When I looked back and thought about it, I probably had worried more about the first horrible incident much more than Cereza had.

I realized that I really didn’t mind if my other peers were afraid of me, and perhaps I would never truly make friends with them. As long as I had Cereza. As I laid in bed that night I thought about how she had grown from that toothy girl with the thick braids to this graceful, beautiful witch. I swore to myself, that I would stand by her side from then on, no matter what. Because I truly respect and adore her.

**Author's Note:**

> I see this when they just turned teenagers or something like that. Jeanne and Cereza must have went through a lot together regarding the silly societal stuff and power distance and miscellaneous people's opinions and I thought it'd be interesting to explore some of that process.


End file.
